National rallies to end gendered-based violence in Australia

[Susan StoHelit]

15 hours ago, Cat said:

Yeah it’s a shame this miscommunication (or whatever it is) is overshadowing what the actual March is supposed to highlight… 

Shame, or deliberate ploy by the media?

instead of talking about the problem or acknowledging that at least the PM was there and in solidarity, we’re all focusing on the (relatively minor) issue. But hey at least he didn’t say we’re lucky we’re not being shot.

[Kiwi Bicycle]

46 minutes ago, Susan StoHelit said:

Shame, or deliberate ploy by the media?

instead of talking about the problem or acknowledging that at least the PM was there and in solidarity, we’re all focusing on the (relatively minor) issue. But hey at least he didn’t say we’re lucky we’re not being shot.

I think the organiser did the event a disservice writing the follow up social media post saying he was lying. She could of contacted the PMs office with a complaint, but to put that media fodder out there, she definitely helped deflect from the main reason of the rally. Don't feed the media pack stuff that is not on message.

[Lesley225]

Apparently she's also been on further media accusing the PM Of lying and no there is no discussion of violence just PM bashing. 

[LunaFreya]

Oh I see, one of those activists that makes themselves the story 

[Paddlepop]

A good video summary here from about 17 mins. 
 

 

[MerryMadigralMadge]

And going on SkyNews to continue the bashing  

 

Also, no PM of any ilk, on any issue, is just going to make up policy on the fly, just to make a quick speech. That was a completely unrealistic demand, and speaks to her naivety or inexperience. Aren’t these types of rallies usually organised by a committee or multiple groups coming together, usually with a figurehead person who is articulate and media savvy? 
 

anyway, can’t believe I’m still commenting on this, instead of the whole point of the rallies around Australia - this wasn’t the only one. 

[Paddlepop]

Here’s a short 2 min video. I think the organiser messed up and made it all about herself.

 

[Lady Sybil Vimes]

I can't see that Albo did anything wrong here. After watching the video, the organiser was all over the place. She spent far too much of her speech talking about herself and she shouldn't have been trying to make politicians commit to demands at a rally. They're not going to do that. Suddenly deciding that the Prime Minister wasn't going to talk was weird, the crowd obviously wanted him to speak and were calling out for it.

I think she was out of her depth and her response to Albo at the rally and on Twitter was so dramatic and poorly-considered. It's a real shame.

[Lesley225]

It's taken attention away from what she was trying to promote going on Sky and complaining about the PM .

[LunaFreya]

1 hour ago, Paddlepop said:

Here’s a short 2 min video. I think the organiser messed up and made it all about herself.

I’m not so sure it’s not deliberate…

[MerryMadigralMadge]

Also, how does she not understand that she is now being used by RW media and politicians, to normalise/rehabilitate Scomo, and to lessen how dreadful Dutton/Liberals will be for women and children? And being used by some left factions as well, I might add

Purity politics enrages me - so I get the ALP aren’t doing every utopian policy, and also some policies that frankly are very centrist no-brainers, but they are up against a juggernaut of partisan media, cashed up billionaires, easily manipulated voter segments, it’s only been 2 years since the election in these stupid 3 year terms etc - some things will come slower than we like. That’s not a good thing, it’s just a reality. 
 

Although I am anticipating a minority ALP government at the next election, and that could be a very good result. 

[LunaFreya]

This is why I don’t try to argue with fanatics, you can’t tell them there’s complexity and nuance in things. Sometimes things take time, you need to make a first step so the other steps can follow 

[Cat]

Yep - it’s like the saying ‘don’t let perfection get in the way of progress’.

No political party is perfect, but some are a heck of a lot better than others.

And a complex problem will not be fixed overnight, but any progress forward and increased awareness is a good thing.

[LunaFreya]

Also people have different ideas, opinions and experiences, these need to be considered even if some of them are bat shit insane. And the more people, the more of these you get 

This isn’t a movie or fairy tale, you can’t have a big moment of change and everything follows from that. Change is hard and the fact this is the case has many throw up their hands and say it’s too hard and give up 

[Ernegirl]

Sigh. I hope there’s a reset and ‘back to the task at hand’ mentality after all the rally drama.

Honestly, the first thing I’d like to see tackled is making bail laws for DVO absolutely draconian. The current situation is a farce. Offenders have a license to kill. How many times over does a dead woman have to prove the risk they pose? The facts speak for themselves.

[Stuffed Olive]

1 hour ago, Paddlepop said:

Here’s a short 2 min video. I think the organiser messed up and made it all about herself.

 

 

1 hour ago, LunaFreya said:

I’m not so sure it’s not deliberate…

It was yet another omnishambles! All parties involved probably regret how it unfolded.
I don't know if it was deliberate, but if so it betrayed the women attending; I don't see why Williams would sabotage the agreed cause of the rally with this nonsense. She comes across as young and inexperienced, which is a recipe for disaster when undertaking to organise an event that was predictably going to be an emotionally charged situation.
Her subsequent interaction with our esteemed MSM has only compounded the drama. The media is not young and inexperienced, and neither are the various political opponents. Their actions are certainly deliberate. 
So the conversation has been hijacked, just as the Voice discussion was, and the 2022 election policy discussion, when the only thing we heard about for weeks was Albo's "gaffe" about interest rates.

It seems that we are unable to have a serious respectful conversation in this country about issues that affect us all, and it's just so discouraging. A media review might be a useful place to start, because as well as their politically biased reporting, sections of the media are not blameless when it comes to inciting violence. 

[purplekitty]

 I am at a loss to understand why anyone would make the choice to appear on RW media in the follow up to this clusterfuck.

 

[MerryMadigralMadge]

There will be many experienced women across many organisations, who regularly organise rallies, work with government, advocate change etc, who will be head in hands at this derailment of the narrative and lost momentum. 

[Tinsel]

Next time I want to turn a silk purse into a sow's ear, I'll call Sarah Williams - she's an expert at it.

'I'm not having any attacks on myself and the organisers' to the PM.  Just WTAF! 

Sounds to me that's exactly what she wanted to happen so she had would have more reasons to attack the PM and the govt.

ETA:  Don't know if it's true, but I've seen a couple of posts on social media that Sarah Williams is a friend of Hollie Hughes.  'Nuff said.

Edited April 30 by Tinsel

[Ernegirl]

17 minutes ago, Tinsel said:

Next time I want to turn a silk purse into a sow's ear, I'll call Sarah Williams - she's an expert at it.

'I'm not having any attacks on myself and the organisers' to the PM.  Just WTAF! 

Sounds to me that's exactly what she wanted to happen so she had would have more reasons to attack the PM and the govt.

ETA:  Don't know if it's true, but I've seen a couple of posts on social media that Sarah Williams is a friend of Hollie Hughes.  'Nuff said.

It really is a shame, how this has gone. A shame that I doubt will have its ownership claimed.

 I hope that the narrative can be wrestled back.

 Ladies, your posts on this page have made me mull over how women’s rights are sucked into the vortex of political point-scoring.

[Stuffed Olive]

Sucked in and then spat out under a bus! 

Yes I hope we can reclaim the narrative. It will be awful if it degenerates into a political pissing competition like the referendum. I just made the mistake of visiting (what's left of) twitter.

[MerryMadigralMadge]

38 minutes ago, Tinsel said:

 

ETA:  Don't know if it's true, but I've seen a couple of posts on social media that Sarah Williams is a friend of Hollie Hughes.  'Nuff said.

I’ve not heard anything about that, but this comment made me realise my own biased assumption; I had just assumed that anyone involved in the running of the rallies was on the left - and now I think about it, that’s not great on me to assume RW = I don’t get angry about women’s rights. 

[Mantis]

1 hour ago, MerryMadigralMadge said:

There will be many experienced women across many organisations, who regularly organise rallies, work with government, advocate change etc, who will be head in hands at this derailment of the narrative and lost momentum. 

While in no way do I think that it is the end of this movement, I do think it is a big dent in the public's faith in the WhatWereYouWearing group that was coordinating it.

It would be better if they have somebody else as the face of this campaign or maybe let another organisation coordinate future demonstrations. Maybe even someone experienced amongst us?

I was meaning to ask @Darryl if you could set up a dedicated page or a calendar for these kind of things so the information can be available to as many people as possible who might not be on Facebook?

[Paddlepop]

FYI Hollie Hughes is a Liberal Senator from NSW. I had no idea who she was and had to Google her.

[Jolly_F]

What a clusterfuck…  she really doesn’t get it. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill and detracting from the real issue because that’s all she had done now, no one cares about why anymore! 

Albo actually bothered to show up as he should imo but he didn’t have to, he could have not bothered! Plenty of other politicians didn’t bother, where is the anger at them!!